Cook v. State (1994)

In Cook v. State, 884 S.W.2d 485, 487 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994), the defendant was charged with murder and convicted of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter. Cook, 884 S.W.2d at 485, 487. The definitions of the applicable mental states--"intentionally" and "knowingly"--included the full statutory definitions. Id. The defendant objected to the charge, arguing that because murder is a result-of- conduct offense, the definitions of the culpable mental states should have been limited to the result language only. Id. at 486. The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed and held that because murder is a result-of-conduct offense, the trial court erred in refusing to limit the definitions of the culpable mental states. Id. at 491-92.